Located near the town of Apeldoorn, the Paleis Het Loo offers some of the most famous gardens in the world, located just behind the palace. Fountains and garden statues of the Greek gods and goddesses highlight the formal King and Queen's gardens. In the spring, the surrounding banks and the palace roof provide the best view of the gardens. Visitors can gain admittance to the roof only a few times a year in the spring---Easter Sunday and Monday, Queen's Day and Ascension. A complete tour of the palace grounds, including the gardens, takes around three hours. Photographs and video recordings are not allowed on the palace grounds.
Keukenhof Gardens in the town of Lisse offers self-guided discovery tours throughout the whole park. With more than 70 acres and 7 million flowers, Keukenhof is the sight of the world's largest flower gardens. The Keukenhof gardens include seven inspiration gardens, which have rotating annual themes, and the historical gardens that feature tulips and daffodils dating as far back as the 17th century. A handheld device allows visitors to participate in self-guided tours, where they listen to sound recordings and interviews of the park's gardeners, and view videos, maps and photos. The Keukenhof website claims the gardens are the most photographed location in the world.
The Utrecht Botanical Gardens are located at the University in Fort Hoofddijk. The gardens feature more than 6,000 species of plants that have been gathered by seed through expeditions and research all over the world over the last 350 years. Guided group tours are available by request, and with advance notice they can include lunch or tea. Visitors to the gardens are free to tour the grounds on their own and wander through the variety of garden sections that include a rock garden, a systematic garden, tropical greenhouses and a theme garden.
The Gardens of Appeltern, located an hour and a half southeast of Utrecht, spreads across 32 acres. These "demonstration gardens" include more than 150 changing garden displays put together by local designers and gardeners. All of the gardens intertwine with the use of a single walkway that leads through them. Guided tours take about an hour and a half. Dogs on leashes are allowed in the gardens. The gardens are all different sizes and are represented with plaques that describe the designers, the concepts and the donors. Among the gardens, visitors find a number of calming water features. According to the Appeltern website, the garden was inspired by Ben van Oijen, a residential garden designer, as a way to display his individual work to potential customers.
